Live from Lincoln Center: Bernstein and Gershwin (8pm, UNC-TV) - A New Year's Eve gala with the New York Philharmonic, music director Alan Gilbert and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet features works by Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin.

New Year's Rockin' Eve: 40th Anniversary Party (8pm, ABC) - Jenny McCarthy and Fergie celebrate 40 years of "Rockin' Eve" history.

New Year's Eve with Carson Daly (10pm, NBC) - Carson Daly hosts with scheduled performances from Drake, Jessie J, Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green, the Roots, and Tony Bennett. Also, a comedy performance by Jimmy Fallon, a 2011 music recap by Brian Williams, and sideline reports from J.B. Smoove. Those last three names mean this is the one I'm probably watching.

Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve ... (10pm, ABC) - The full title of this show is a paragraph long, but it's just the usual New Year's show with Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest (mostly Seacrest). From Times Square in New York with performers Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Pitbull, Florence and the Machine, Nicki Minaj, LMFAO, Beyonce, and many more.

New Year's Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin (11pm, CNN) - Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin host CNN's coverage, which has reporters in New York, Key West, and Nashville.

American Country New Year's Eve Live (11pm, Fox) - New Year's from Las Vegas with performances by Lauren Alaina, Rodney Atkins, and Toby Keith.

Coldplay New Year's Eve: An Austin City Limits Special (11pm, UNC-TV) - Coldplay plays old hits and songs from their 2011 album "Mylo Xyloto."

All American New Year (11pm, Fox News) - All Americans, all the time! Look for Americans Trace Adkins and Big & Rich.

Note: It looks like the NBC and ABC shows take a break at 11 p.m. for local news and then resume at 11:30. WRAL's 11 o'clock newscast will run until 12:05 a.m. to cover the dropping of the acorn in downtown Raleigh.

"Idol" tried to pull a fast one on the many Scotty McCreery fans tonight. Throughout the finals, host Ryan Seacrest has always named the bottom three finalists on results night. He then sends one of them to safety, leaving the bottom two -- one of whom goes home.

But if you tuned in late tonight, you saw Scotty and Casey Abrams in what appeared to be the bottom two. Oh no! McCreery Nation could barely breathe. Was our man Scotty really in trouble? Probably not. Did you catch that little disclaimer that Seacrest threw in? Tonight's results were in random order. So for all we know, Scotty could have been the highest vote-getter this week.

It was hard for Scotty McCreery to go too country with this week’s theme – the songs of Carole King. So he did the next best thing, singing two songs famously covered by another Tar Heel singer, James Taylor. (As we predicted!)

Each of the six finalists sang twice tonight -- once alone and once as part of a duet.

Scotty went with “You’ve Got a Friend” for his solo, and he really tried to change up his usual deep-voiced twang. He got some good advice this week from regular mentor Jimmy Iovine and guest mentor Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. (And Wolfpack fans will be happy to note that Scotty wore an N.C. State T-shirt during the mentor session.)

Scotty McCreery got his toughest criticism of the season from the judges this week after a so-so performance of “Swingin’.” But viewers didn’t seem to mind, as Scotty was easily voted into the Final Six on tonight's results show.

Judges Randy Jackson and Jennifer Lopez said on Wednesday's performance show that  Scotty needs to challenge himself and branch away from country. Tonight, producers made Scotty do just that. He had to sing  Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” with rocker finalist James Durbin and oddball jazz finalist Casey Abrams.

It was an unusual trio, to be sure, but Scotty held his own. He sounded much better than Casey. James, of course, was completely in his element.

Scotty McCreery’s lively performance of a song from his childhood idol easily earned him a spot in “American Idol’s” Elite Eight tonight. Scotty, left, the Garner High School junior, was sent to safety fairly early in the live results show, which seemed even more disjointed than usual.

Then came what will no doubt go down as one of the most shocking "Idol" eliminations ever.

But first, there was lots of strange filler, such as:

On a stressful results show tonight in which two of the 11 finalists would be going home, Scotty McCreery, right, got to breathe easy early on. He and fellow Southerner Lauren Alaina were sent to safety shortly after performing a duet to open the show.

Scotty’s performance of the little-known Elton John song “Country Comfort” was praised on Wednesday’s show. Tonight, he and Lauren, who also knows her way around a country tune, sang “I Told You So,” the song by fellow North Carolinian Randy Travis that also has been covered by Carrie Underwood.

Host Ryan Seacrest then came out to tell both Scotty and Lauren, a Georgia teen, that they had advanced to the Final Nine.

The remaining finalists also performed in groups:

It looks like Scotty McCreery won’t be bagging groceries at the Garner Lowes Foods this summer. Instead, he’ll be singing his way across the nation on the “American Idol” tour. In tonight's live show, Scotty learned that he had advanced to this season’s Top 10, thus securing a spot on the tour.

After singing a country-fried version of Stevie Wonder’s “For Once In My Life” on Wednesday’s performance show, Scotty got to sing with Wonder himself tonight. The Motown legend joined Scotty (who was clad in a tux!) and the other finalists for a version of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.”

In honor of "Motown Week," the finalists also warbled their way through "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." (No solos for Scotty.)

Minutes later, host Ryan Seacrest called Scotty, Lauren Alaina and Pia Toscano to center stage ...

When Garner's Scotty McCreery heard this was going to be "Motown Week" on "American Idol," he acknowledged that his first thought was, "Lord knows, what am I going to do with this?" What he did was a version of Stevie Wonder's "For Once In My Life" with a strong dose of twang in it. All in all, it worked better than you might expect.

Scotty strayed a good bit from his trademark low notes, and this was a much more up-tempo performance than he has given so far. (Leading to a few pointing gestures that were almost cheesy. Scotty said in the intro to his performance that "the last thing I want to do is come across as a lounge singer.")

Judge Steven Tyler called it "beautiful" and compared Scotty to Glen Campbell. (We guess that was a compliment.) Jennifer Lopez said it was a great version of the song that Scotty -- Warning: "Idol" cliche alert! -- "made his own." Randy Jackson said it probably wasn't Scotty's best song but that he came across as "a young lady killer."

Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On (9pm, HBO) - Bette Midler performs in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace, accompanied by singing trio the Staggering Harlettes, the dancing Caesar Salad Girls, and a 13-piece band.

Tom Arnold: That's My Story and I'm Sticking To It (9pm, Showtime) - Tom Arnold, most famous for his marriage to and divorce from Roseanne Barr, performs a new stand-up set talking about his path from Iowa to Hollywood, his four marriages, and the friends he's made while working on more than 70 movies and TV shows.

Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest (10pm, ABC) - Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest host from Times Square in New  York City with correspondent Jenny McCarthy, while Fergie hosts in Los Angeles. Performers include Ke$ha, Taio Cruz, Willow Smith, and Train.

New Year's Eve with Carson Daly (10pm, NBC) - Carson Daly rings in 2011 with Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, and My Chemical Romance.

New Year's Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin (11pm, CNN) - Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin host coverage from Times Square and across the country. This telecast is usually the one to watch if you want to see Kathy Griffin say inappropriate things on live television.

WRAL News (11pm, WRAL) - WRAL will have an extended news broadcast tonight to cover the dropping of the giant acorn in downtown Raleigh. And they'll have a special in-studio guest answering questions from viewers: North Carolinian Jane Bright, a contestant on this past season's "Survivor: Nicaragua." 

Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest (10pm, ABC) - Dick Clark is essentially Mr. New Year's Eve, but Ryan Seacrest will pull most of the weight hosting their joint project. Fergie, Jennifer Lopez, and Daughtry are among the entertainers scheduled to perform.

New Year's Eve with Carson Daly (10pm, NBC) - Look for Green Day, Rihanna, and Jay-Z.

Billboard's New Year's Eve Live (11pm, Fox) - Carmen Electra hosts Kris Allen, Allison Iraheta, and Sean Kingston. I'm sorry, but yawn. 

WRAL News First Night Raleigh (11pm, WRAL) - WRAL will have special coverage from Downtown Raleigh's First Night, so tune in here if you want to see the Acorn drop.

New Year's Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin (11pm, CNN) - And bingo, we have a winner. For the thrill of pure unpredictability, this is the show to watch tonight. What's more fun than watching entertainment's biggest loudmouth completely mortify CNN's golden boy? And because of her previous New Year's on-air episode, Griffin told Craig Ferguson last week that CNN made her sign a contract in which she promised that if she uses profanity again, she has to write the check back to them. She says it wasn't that big of a check, so ...